The Mercy of the Stars
by GreatGranpapy
Summary: With Humanity against the ropes, the UNSC high command issues the go-ahead for a plan to launch hundreds of communications probes outfitted with slip-space drives in the attempt to find allies to assist them. One such probe finds itself in Protoss space.


The Mercy of the Stars

Humanity was, to use an old saying, in a tight spot. Our vast empire of interstellar proportions was whittled down to their home system (give or take a few frontier worlds that went under the radar). They were being subject to a religious genocide brought about by the Covenant, a faction that has the numbers, tech, and experience advantage, and being on the home field wasn't enough to cover our shortcomings.

In a last ditch effort to pull their species from the clutches of extinction, UNSC leaders authorized a plan that called for communications probes to be fitted with slip-space drives, and travel to the far reaches of the galaxy; the plan was to find allies amongst the unknown parts of space. We were not betting on them actually finding anyone, but we had to do something.

After a short respite, the dreaded day had come, the Covenant found Earth. It was only a matter of time before they completely overwhelmed our defenses and brought an end to humanity.

Engineer Trawldus was rather confused when a transmission not of Protoss origin began feeding into his encryption terminal. "Executor Tassadar, we are receiving an odd transmission from a small robotic device of unknown origin. Also, there is a set of coordinates and a series of prime numbers and mathematical equations. I would like your input on this."

"I will look into it." Tassadar stepped from his point in the command deck of his ship and onto the communications sub-deck. Upon arriving, Trawldus activated the message, odd script appearing on the terminal and a message began to play.

"To whoever receives this message, on the behalf of humanity, I plead that you come to our aid in this dire time of need. We are being systematically killed off in a war against a force known as the Covenant, a war that they started with no provocation. As far as we know, the reason for their attacks is that our existence is conflicting with their religious beliefs, which stops us from trying to sew for peace. Our enemy is hell-bent on our destruction, and I'll say it again; if you're hearing this, please help."

Tassadar paused to collect his thoughts. "This is very strange; I have not heard this language since my time at the archives..." Tassadar paused to think, with Trawldus essentially hanging on the silence. "Send an order for reinforcements to Aiur, and then broadcast the coordinates to the other ships with orders to follow the Gantrithor."

"It shall be done Executor." Trawldus replied. Tassadar nodded at the engineer, and then left for the Templar quarters. He strolled through a long corridor before stopping at a door. With a wave of his hand, the door opened to reveal a masked figure meditating on the floor. The figure opened its green eyes.

"Greetings Tassadar, you seem to have much on your mind."

"Greetings Zeratul. Yes, that would seem to be the case. I have decided to investigate a race that is sufficiently advanced to prove an asset in fighting against the Zerg Swarm. As you know, the other Templar won't be thrilled with the return of the Nerazim. I think that if your forces were to be involved in the operation, your people will be seen in a better light. I say this because I have no right to command the Dark Templar forces currently in our battle-group." Zeratul began to stroke his chin in thought. He stood up then put a hand on one of Tassadar's shoulders.

"Your plan is a bold one, but bold actions must be taken if we are to end the stalemate with the cursed Zerg." Zeratul then let go of Tassadar, and walked over to the clear viewing port that made up the back wall of his room, gazing upon a nearby nebula.

"How many races have been eradicated by the swarm, Tassadar?"

Tassadar looked down in sadness. "Too many to count, their bio-mass fuels the Swarm. The Overmind constantly seeks out worlds with life to support their war effort. It had nearly gotten to the point of breaking the Dae'Uhl and killing off any possible sources of bio-mass."

"What do you know of this race?"

"I had first heard the language used in the message when I was at the archives, reading over the journeys of Jaltoa to unexplored sections of the galaxy. Humanity, the owners of the language, had barely reached tier 6 when he encountered them, rendering them useless for the purpose of creating allies. They must be at least tier 3 if they can send such a craft all the way to Protoss space as their homeworld is in a separate section of the galaxy…" Tassadar trailed off as he went into deep thought, only to have said thoughts interrupted by Zeratul.

"You have my blade, and those of my fellow Dark Templar. We shall investigate this, Humanity, and come to their aid if we see fit. Such an unexpected variable could be just what we need to break our stalemate with the Zerg." Tassadar nodded, then left the room, and walked to the command deck, with Zeratul behind him.

"My brothers! We have received a transmission from another race in a separate sector of the galaxy, a request for aid specifically. And this request for aide shall not go unanswered. If we succeed in saving this race, they could prove to be valuable allies in our fight against the Zerg." The Protoss on board the ship cheered their support.

And with that, the small contingent of 12 ships entered FTL, speeding towards the coordinates.

Earth

The massive weapons platforms thundered into the ranks of Covenant ships. The battle of Earth had begun. The shots rippled against the shields of the glistening behemoths. Thousands of the more geometrically blocky Human ships fired their own, smaller guns into the enemy, along with hundreds of millions of pods of anti-ship missiles. The more curvy Covenant ships shrugged off their losses and fired swarms of plasma torpedoes into the Human Fleet. Each impact of a plasma torpedo crashed against the Human vessels, searing through the Titanium-A plating and into the more valuable interior.

On one of the weapons platforms, called super-MACs, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 defended against Covenant boarding parties seeking to silence the guns, and therefore cripple the Human's defenses. This particular platform was called the Malta, after the location it was in geosynchronous orbit over.

A gruff voice suddenly called through the Chief's mic. "Somebody get a machine gun set up at that choke point, we have four minutes 'till the next wave hits us." Chief turned his head to make sure Staff Sargent Avery Johnson's orders were being carried out. He went back to setting his gun's sight on the door when he saw a marine lugging said machine gun into position.

"THIRTY SECONDS!" another marine called. Alien chatter could be heard getting louder and louder on the other side. Suddenly an explosion blasted the door open, and the marines started pouring lead into the doorway. Several Grunts that were about to start shooting dies from what might as well have been a meat grinder, their light-blue blood splashing over the station's grey interior. Suddenly, the blue light of an Elite's plasma rifle impacted with the chest of a Marine several feet from the Chief, killing him instantly. The other marines responded by shooting into the large alien, the blue glow of his energy shields flickering out before it met a swift death. Several more Elites and Grunts rushed through the doorway, hoping to power their way through the defenders. Several more marines fell before they could bring down the attackers.

"Chief! I'm detecting more Covenant attacking a separate part of the station, the marines could use a hand."

"Go ahead Chief, the boys and I'll hold down the fort here."

"On it," was the terse reply of the metal-clad titan. He clipped his rifle to his back and began to sprint for the pinned marines. Every now and then, he would swiftly take down an Elite or Grunt with a punch that could shatter concrete or with the snap of a neck. When he finally arrived, he spotted three marines huddled behind some charred metal, trying to hide from the splash of the plasma weaponry. The Chief unclipped two submachine guns and mowed down two Elites before joining the marines behind cover.

"Make a rush for the door, I'll provide covering fire." The marines nodded to John, but before they even got up, a Hunter Pair bashed in through where the Chief got in. They were surrounded. John attempted to shoot at the exposed orange flesh of the Hunters, but they raised their shield in response. John looked for an opening, but the Hunter pair was against a wall, there would be no way to flank around and shoot their exposed backs.

"Well, it looks like we're caught between two rocks and a hard place," Cortana chimed in. She knew they would get out of this, they always, illogically, did. Just as the Spartan was going to engage the Hunters head-on, a sort of electrical distortion occurred right behind the Hunters. "Chief, I'm detecting a signature that is neither Human nor Covenant!"

John had no time to ponder this development, and the blue light from the glow faded, and another blue light emerged from the chest of one of the Hunters. "ARUN NA'ADUN DLENSHO!" a voice seemed to shout from within John's head. The Hunter fell over with a "thwomp."

"Greetings warrior of Humanity, I am Zealot Fenix. Allow me to settle this fight." Chief "heard" again. A warrior clad in gold armor emerged from the corpse of the fallen Hunter, and then slashed the canon-arm off of the standing one. The Hunter shouted out in fury, and then swung its shield down on Fenix, but it was too slow, as Fenix had danced around the blow and did a upward cut through the other Hunter's torso, ending its life. Before John could say anything else, Fenix charged at the Elites and Grunts beyond the marines. The plasma shots were stopped by a dome of bright blue light before Fenix closed the gap. When he did, he began carving his way through the Covenant soldiers. Before long, they all lay dead on the ground, no blood being spilt due to the heat of Fenix's psionic blades cauterizing the wounds.

"John, I'm getting word that several ships have just jumped in amongst the Covenant ships, and are tearing through them. A few Covenant ships seem to be rushing towards Earth, and their moving too fast for our super-MACs to shoot at."

"No worries Cortana, we have a solution. Please, join us in the fight on the ground."

"Wait, wha-" was all Chief could say before he was suddenly converted into pure energy that was stored in a warp prism being escorted by two phoenixes rushing past the Malta to the city of New Mombasa.


End file.
